Automatic safety-hook.



A. C. ADAMS.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY HOOK. APPLICATION FILED AUG.17, 1911.

QLSQQ Patented Oct. 15, 1912. t

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AUSTIN ADAMS, OF LEBANON, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY-HOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15,1912.

Application filed August 17, 1911. Serial No. 644,593.

To all whom it-ma/g concern:

Be it known that I, AUSTIN C. ADAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lebanon, in the county of \Varren and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful lm n'm'ements in Automatic Safety-Hooks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to automatic hooks, and more particularly tohooks which may be employed upon a clevis, was a grapple hook and formany other purposes.

An object of the invention is to provide an automatic safety hook whichwill be of simple construction and which will be effective and positivein the performance of its duties. 4

Another object is to provide a hook having opposite jaws pivoted attheir inner ends to a turn block, said jaws being adapted to be swungtoward and ass one another when the hook is in closed orm.

Another object is to providean automatic safety hook of this character,both jaws of which serve to hold a link of a chain, a snaphook, or thelike, the jaws being adapted to be swung to various positions toequalize the strain upon the jaws.

Another object is to provide a hook of this character having means forpreventing the.

jaws from separating accidentally.

Another object is to construct a hook of this character which will be ofsimple form and which may be manufactured at a small cost.

Other objects and advantages will be ap parent from thefollowingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and it will be understood. that I may make changes in thespecific structure without departing from the spirit of the invention asclaimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete device,Fig. 2 is a side view thereof, parts being shown in section, and thejaws in open position, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, the handles beingbroken away.

Referring particularly to the drawings, 1 represents the block,preferably a swivel block having a neck 2 projecting therefrom to bereceived within theconnecting portion 3 of the arms or handles 4, theneck haying an enlarged head. 5 to prevent casual Withdrawal of saidneck from the connecting portion 3. Projecting in an opposite directionfrom the swivel block 1 are the parallel walls 6 between which arepivoted the inner ends of the aws 7 which are preferably curved and arepivoted'by means of the' pivot pins 8 passing through the inner ends.

thereof, and through the walls 6. The ins 8 are spaced some distanceapart to aFl the free and independent swingingmovement of each jaw 7upon its respective pivot pin 8. The outer edges of the walls 6 are cutin the form of an arc of a circle, as shown at 9, to present asubstantially circular opening when the jaws are in overlapped or closedposition, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The jaws 7 are each curved or bentto avoid one another and allow theouter ends thereof to rest against the curved side edges of the walls 6,thus limiting the movement of the jaws 7 when being sprung to closedposition. The movement of-the jaws 7 in the opposite directions, whenbeing swung away from one another, is limited by the object and restingagainst the curved side edges of the walls 6, as will be clearlyunderstood.

When it is desired to lock the jaws 7 positively in closed position, thespring latch members or bars 10 are employed. The latch bars 10 haveopposite ends riveted or otherwise secured to the side edges of thewalls 6, while their free ends are enlarged and provided with the rigidor integral latching fingers 11 which are pointed and adapted forengagement within suitable recesses near the free ends of the jaws 7,against which free ends the outer or latching ends of the spring lappedbars are re siliently engaged when the jaws 7 are in closed positioin Itwill thus be seen that I have provided an automatic safety hook whichwill be positive and effective in use,and which may be employed forvarious purposes. It will be evident that as the parallelhandles or arms4 are provided with suitable perforations they may be readily securedupon the end of a plow' beam for the purpose of 'utilizing the device asa clevis. It will also be evident that the arms 4 will ellectively serveas means for coi'mecting the hook to various objects or hoistingmechanism and etc. If desired, however, the arms t may be dispensed withand the swivel block 1 secured by means of the neck portion 2, directlyto hoisting or other mechanism, asv will be clearly apparent.

Owing to the extremely small number of parts in this device and thesimple formation thereof, the cost of manufacturing the hook will beextremely small.

What I claim is: i

An automatic safety hook comprising a swivel block, parallel wallsprojecting from to agree with the curved jaws to present a circularopening when the hook is in closed position, said aws being" bent toavoid one another when I'll closed positlon, and allow the free endsthereof to rest against the side edges of the Walls, and means adaptedfor engagement with the free-ends of the jaws for automatically lockingthe jaws in closed position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thisspecification in thepresence of twosubscribing Witnesses. v

' AUSTIN C. ADAMS, Witnesses: v

JAMES GUSTIN, ALTON F. BROWN.

